


Christmas Shopping with the Ponds

by savvyliterate



Series: With the Ponds [6]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:30:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savvyliterate/pseuds/savvyliterate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What in Rassilon’s name was Amelia Pond doing at the Intergalactic Mall of Andromeda? The Doctor mentally flipped back through the hundreds of trips he’d taken with the Ponds. He was damn well sure he hadn’t brought them here. Which means River had. Seeing Amy had made his eyes sting, but the thought of being on the same planet as River Song made his hearts ache. He’d only just gotten over saying good-bye to her again, though she’d warned him she’d see him again. Spoilers, right? Now, where the bloody hell was Clara?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Shopping with the Ponds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mygalfriday (BrinneyFriday)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrinneyFriday/gifts).



> A late happy birthday to Pam, and a Merry Christmas to all! For the Doctor and Clara, this takes place between "The Day of the Doctor" and "The Time of the Doctor." For Amy, Rory, and River, this takes place between "Asylum of the Daleks" and "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship."
> 
> At one point in the story, Clara refers to having seen Amy and Rory's pictures. In the series 7 minisode "Clara and the TARDIS," the TARDIS shows Clara a number of companions that were on the TARDIS. Amy was the final one, and I took a little license with Rory.

On a planet filled with millions upon millions of people caught up in their own affairs, no one noticed when three people suddenly materialized in the middle of a massive conglomerate of consumerism.

“Here we are,” River said, fluffing her errant curls as she confirmed the location on her vortex manipulator. Satisfied with the date and location, she powered down the manipulator. Transporting three people took considerable power, and she wanted to make sure there was enough for the trip home. “The Intergalactic Mall of Andromeda.”

Flanking either side of her, Amy and Rory gawked. Building after building filled with shops stretched before them, each adorned with well-known brands that survived centuries into the future, along with new ones that emerged. Most of the shops were one level, but several galactic superpowers of commerce commanded skyscrapers.  They stood in a gigantic courtyard with kiosks scattered around a large fountain that sprayed multi-colored jets of water.

“When you wanted to take us Christmas shopping, I thought we were going to Kensington, not to another planet,” Rory said.

“This is magnificent!” Amy tucked her hair back behind her ears. “This is so much better than Kensington.”

“It’s perfectly safe,” River told her father. “The biggest threat you have here is running afoul of errant shoppers. Which reminds me.” She crossed over to a kiosk and picked up a small sphere. She thumbed the side of the sphere, and a small holographic map sprang into view. She used her index finger to light up certain sections of the map. “You might want to stay away from here, here, here and here. Those are all the consumer electronics.”

One of the sections of the map turned blue and a tiny voice began to chirp about a flash sale on three-toed sandals. Suddenly, a mass of creatures turned around and bolted for a set of elevators and escalators.

“And, I would avoid there as well,” River said and handed Rory the map. She picked up one for herself and a third for Amy.

“Is this the biggest mall in the galaxy?” Amy asked, activating her map.

“The universe,” River corrected. “The Intergalatic Mall of Andromeda. The year is 3127, and this entire asteroid is a mall. It lasted approximately 7,000 years until the asteroid broke apart. But, don’t worry,” she quickly said as her father winged an eyebrow. “We’re only 1,200 years into the mall’s existence. We’re perfectly safe.”

“It’s amazing what’s survived this far into the future,” Amy said as she twisted the halves of the sphere. A holographic store directory sprang to life, and she scanned the list of names. “Macy’s, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Nordstrom’s. Look, there 23 Apple Stores.” She frowned as a location on the map suddenly had an X light up over it. “Make that 22.”

“How long would it take to visit all the stores here?” Rory asked as they headed to one of the elevators.

“Approximately three years. See those people?” River indicated a group of violet-skinned beings. Tall and thin with fine blue veins snaking beneath their skin, they slowly drove down one of the wide corridors atop what looked like a small camper. “The Fridrexa. They take a pilgrimage during their adolescent years to this planet and spend a year engaged in the study of consumerism and acquiring all the things they will need to build a home. It’s part of their religion.”

“Well, we won’t have any trouble finding gifts at this rate.” Amy dug in her handbag for a small notebook with a list scribbled on it. “So, we need to find something for your boss, my parents, Aunt Sharon, your dad, and the Doctor. In addition, we need to find gifts for each other. How about you?” she asked River.

“Largely the same. Gifts for both of you and the Doctor. I want to find something for my oldest friend from university. And something for the Stormcage warden.”

“You’re getting the warden something?” Rory arched an eyebrow.

River gave him an innocent smile. “Doesn’t every girl give her warden a Christmas gift?” She turned her back on him and headed for a cashpoint. “Did you know they’ve turned Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes into a successful intergalactic franchise?”

“River,” Rory sighed.

“Oh, Dad, I promise to go easy on him this year.” River produced a wand and waved it in front of the cashpoint. Three plastic cards dropped out. She handed Amy and Rory each one. “There 10,000 credits on each of these.”

Rory frowned at the card. “Where did you get this sort of money?”

“Legally, I promise,” River reassured him. Well, there was the sticky ethics about manipulating the stock markets in your favor then seeding money for several centuries on the planet, but her father didn’t need to know that. “We’ll meet at the Earth food court in two hours for tea, then take stock of what else we need to do.”

“Don’t argue.” Amy kissed Rory’s cheek, waved to River, and disappeared into the crowd.

Rory shook his head. “You’re a good girl,” he told River. “I just have to remind myself of that.”

“Oh, Dad.” River kissed his cheek. “I haven’t felt like being Mels in at least six days.”

“Thanks. Thanks, that’s really comforting.”

\-----

“The Intergalactic Mall of Andromeda! A planet that’s a mall! Technically, it’s an asteroid that’s a mall, but semantics.” The Doctor bounded ahead of Clara as she gawked.

“This makes Ahkaten look like a corner market!” she exclaimed. “At least it’s not a sentient being this time.”

“Clara, would I take you to another sentient planet like that?” At her winged eyebrow, the Doctor spun away from her. “Look! An entire store made of candy floss!”

“Oh! Can we eat it?”

“You can’t just eat a store, that’s incredibly rude. You pay for it, then you eat it.”

“Ah, I see.” Despite the months traveling with the Doctor, he managed to still impress the hell out of her. She lingered outside of a shop filled with various golf balls and closed her eyes until her head stopped spinning. She took several slow breaths until she oriented herself. There was too much to see, too much to take in. She had to pace herself. She opened her eyes and groaned. And the Doctor had disappeared.

“You all right?”

Clara glanced over her shoulder to see a man with sandy hair giving her a concerned once-over. The look seemed more fatherly than sexual, and she relaxed fractionally. “Yeah. Just a lot to take in, and my friend just disappeared on me. He does that.”

“You’re from London?”

Clara raised an eyebrow and the man blushed. “Sorry,” he said. “I recognize the accent.”

“Yeah, I’m from London.” Clara turned to him. “You’ve got a British accent, too. Are you visiting from Earth?”

“After a fashion. I know how it goes.” He shook his head. “I try to orient myself, same thing you’re doing, but we’re usually running from the moment we arrive at a new place.” He fished in his coat pocket and withdrew a familiar gold-colored tin. “Travel sweet? That helps me.”

“Thanks!” Clara selected a black currant one. She held out her hand. “I’m Clara.”

“Rory.” He shook it, then selected a lemon sweet before tucking the tin away. “I’m here with my wife and daughter.”

“You do a lot of space traveling?”

“Not as much as we used to, but we get out every once in awhile.” Rory indicated the store. “Looking for something for my dad. He loves golf. He’s so hard to buy for.”

“Tell me about it. My dad’s ridiculously hard to get a gift for. I told my friend, and he suggested coming here. If I can’t find it here, then I’m better off getting him some old socks, he said.”

Rory rolled his eyes. “Sounds like my son-in-law.”

Clara frowned. “You look a little young to have a son-in-law.”

“Believe me, I’m still coming to grips with that fact after nearly 10 years.”

“I better go find my friend. Thanks for the travel sweet, Rory!” Clara waved and headed into the crowd in the general direction where she saw the Doctor last.

\-----

River frowned over the various parts arranged on a piece of felt, scrutinizing each piece as if it was a rare diamond. “This,” she determined, tapping a fingernail to a long, green tube, “is not a genuine defixulator.”

“It is too,” the sandy-colored alien that reminder her of those creatures from the Legend of Zelda that ate swords hissed. “I got it out of a Time Agent’s ship from the 24th century. Just like new.”

“New enough considering it’s a fake.” River drummed her fingers on the felt pad. “Now, you can either show me the real deal, or I might just have to cause a small ruckus.”

“Weapons and general fisticuffs are not allowed on this planet,” the alien rasped.

“Who said anything about using a weapon?” River’s lips curled into feral smile. “I don’t need to be so crude, what with the interplanetary slave trade between here and Gxal you’re running out of your back room.”

“I am doing no such thing!” Beads of green sweat appeared at the alien’s mouth.

“Oh no?” River pulled out her tablet and turned it toward the alien. “See, I just happen to be an excellent hacker. I wanted to check your stock before I stopped by. And see here? Coded files. They’re ever so easy to crack if you know what you’re doing. I’m sure the right people would be very interested in this data.”

The alien slithered away without another word. Satisfied, River picked up the forged defixulator and held it up to the light. Very close, but it would cause a ship’s engine to overheat and explode if the temperature reached a certain point. She cracked the tube in half and tossed it in a nearby recycler just as the alien emerged with another tray. He thumped it down in front of her with a grunt.

“Ah, there, see? That wasn’t so hard.” River picked up the genuine article and inspected it. Satisfied, she handed over her card.

Minutes later, she walked out of the shop with a sealed tube tucked away in her enlarged handbag. The Doctor had been searching for ages for this particular part, and it would make a lovely Christmas gift. Well, that and the lingerie she was planning to buy a couple levels away, but that was to please herself as much as it was to fluster him. She bought an ice cream and settled herself on a bench a few feet away from the shop and waited.

Five minutes later, seven security guards went into the shop. A few more minutes passed, and the alien was wheeled out in a sealed cage. One of the guards placed a closed sign over the door and chained it shut.

The alien caught sight of River and lunged at the bars. “You said you wouldn’t tell them!”

“I never said anything of the sort. I merely said the right people would be interested in the data. I never said I wouldn’t send it. Which I did just before entering your shop. Have a lovely stay in Stormcage. I hear it’s _quite_ the prison!” With a cheeky grin, River shouldered her handbag, tossed away the remains of her ice cream, and headed for the nearest escalator.

\-----

_No. It couldn’t be._

Lost in the array of shops, the Doctor had only just realized that Clara was no longer with him when he caught sight of the familiar figure window browsing a few stores away. His jaw fell, and he leaped into the nearest shop without bothering to check out what it was. Shaken, he turned away and tried to compose himself.

What in Rassilon’s name was Amelia Pond doing at the Intergalactic Mall of Andromeda? He passed his hand over his eyes and mentally flipped back through the hundreds of trips he’d taken with the Ponds. She was older with slight crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes, so it was definitely post-marriage. Post his marriage, at that. He was damn well sure he hadn’t brought the Ponds here. Which means River had. Seeing Amy had made his eyes sting, but the thought of being on the same planet as River Song made his hearts ache. He’d only just gotten over saying good-bye to her again, though she’d warned him she’d see him again. Spoilers, right? No, no, it was too soon. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand in front of her without clinging to her in an extremely undignified manner and somehow re-writing their time. All of their time. He could tell Amy not to go to New York, River not to go to the Library. No, no, no, he had to get out of here. Now. Where the bloody hell was Clara?

The Doctor whirled around, started out of the shop, and nearly plowed over Amy.

“Doctor!” Amy backed up a few paces to avoid falling into the children racing through the corridor behind her. “What’re you doing here? River didn’t tell us you were coming.”

“Amelia Pond,” he breathed.

“It’s good to see you! Wow, that’s a change from your normal outfit.” Amy threw her arms around him.

He gave in, squeezing her as tightly as possible while burying his nose in her hair. He had to get away, had to find Clara and leave. But, he could hug her. He could hug his Amelia one last time. It was more than he deserved.

“Are you OK? You’re not OK.” Amy pulled back and scrutinized the Doctor’s pale face. “Something’s wrong. Something’s very wrong, isn’t it?”

“What? Me? No, I’m the king of OK! Nothing is wrong, Amelia.” He tapped her nose. “I’m just … ah, River.”

“River? Oh, you’re shopping for River! Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” Amy glanced over his shoulder. “She trusts you to pick her knickers out for her?”

The Doctor turned around and with a yelp stumbled out of the store. A store filled with rack upon rack of very lacy, very skimpy knickers and teddies and other things women wore under their clothes to drive their spouses absolutely mental. “No! Yes! I mean no! I mean yes! Well no! I mean I like River in … no, I’m not! Forget I was ever here!”

With a patient sigh, Amy drew the Doctor away from the shop. “You didn’t even know what was in there, did you?”

“No. No! I thought um …” He scratched at his cheek.

“Do you need me to help you find a gift for River?”

“Yes!” He clapped his hands. “Surely she needs another gun or something. I’ll give you the money and-”

“No, you’re not getting off that easily, Doctor.” Amy hooked her arm through his and dragged him toward one of the escalators. “You’re going to pick out your wife’s gift properly. Now, what’s with the purple tweed?”

\-----

Clara sighed as she paced in front of a bench, mobile pressed to her ear. She’d tried the Doctor at least six times, and the TARDIS another two. While she and the ship were getting on much better than before Trenzalore, it immediately switched to the answerphone. With a resigned sigh, she hung up. She’d marked where the TARDIS was on a map the Doctor has tossed her, but despite their thawing relationship, the ship still wasn’t inclined to let her in without him around.

Her thoughts drifted to the man she’d run into outside the golf ball shop. Rory. Something about him seemed familiar. He wasn’t just from Earth, he was from _her_ Earth. 21 st century Earth. The clothes he wore, the tin of sweets he offered, they were all commonplace in her time. That meant he didn’t just engage in a bit of space travel, but time as well. How many time travelers were there in the universe?

_Rory … Rory …_

She nearly slammed into a pillar as it came to her. Rory Williams, husband of Amelia Pond, her immediate predecessor on the TARDIS. She’d seen his picture on the files the TARDIS had displayed for her during the first of the nights that she tried to find her bedroom.  Amy Pond, woman of the impressively long legs. Clara worried her lip as she stared back toward the golf ball shop. Rory meant that Amy was there. Amy and Rory meant another Doctor was most likely there. A younger Doctor, one that hadn’t met her yet.

Following their adventure with his tenth incarnation and the Doctor from the war, her Doctor had explained the importance of avoiding his younger selves whenever possible. It was a confusing mess, and as much as Clara wanted a proper sit-down with Amy and Rory, she didn’t want to risk changing her future either. Right, time to go back to the TARDIS.

Clara headed to the nearest escalator and yelped when she noticed a familiar mane of space hair heading down toward her. She took off, ducking behind a pillar as River Song walked by. Oh, great, not only were the Doctor’s previous companions there, but so was his wife. Clara peered cautiously around the pillar as River headed deeper into the crowd, curls bouncing against her shoulders as she walked. Her hands curled into fists, and she longed to run to River and pull her back to the TARDIS. But, no, she was dead. A long time dead, as the Doctor had told her, and as much as seeing his wife would bring the Doctor momentary joy, he would hurt again once she left.

The River she’d met in the conference call, who had hitched a ride to Trenzalore, didn’t seem to know who she was. This one seemed much younger than the professor who’d accompanied them. If she met River out of order, it would change things. It would change Trenzalore, what she did to save the Doctor. She couldn’t risk that. But, still ...

Clara peered around the pillar as River lingered outside the golf ball shop.

_If you had a chance for your mum and dad to see each other one more time, would you take it?_

Tears stung at Clara’s eyes as the little voice in the back of her head spoke, and she thought of her father bent over her mother's lifeless body, weeping as if his world had ended. She furiously swiped them away and dashed out from her hiding place. “Professor Song!”

\-----

OK, so intergalactic shopping planets weren’t so bad after all. Rory accepted a red-striped bag filled with chocolates from a clerk and thanked her. At least, he believed the clerk was female. He wasn’t quite sure. He took his card back from the clerk and stepped back out into the crowded shopping level.

He had gifts for nearly everyone on his list. He’d gotten his dad an alien golf ball tracker that he’d get a kick out of, chocolates and a card for his boss, some knick-knacks for Amy’s parents and a handheld video game he was quite sure would keep the Doctor’s attention for at least three minutes. Maybe.

All that was left was Amy and River, and of course those were the hardest. Amy had a tendency to buy whatever she fancied then and there, and what did you get an archaeologist daughter that was based out of a jail cell?

Rory thought about it for a moment, then pulled out his map. “For the record,” he said to whoever was listening, “I’m not encouraging her behavior. I just don’t have any other ideas.” He consulted the directory, found what he was looking for, and opted for a glide over one of the escalators.

The glide took a more picturesque route through the mall levels, and Rory leaned against the railing and watched numerous races mingle below. This was actually a very nice trip, and he would need to thank River for it when they met up at the food court. Not all traveling was running and danger, and he would do well to remember it. There was a distinct advantage to Doctor life, and he’d never seen anything like this had Amy not encountered him in the garden as a little girl.

Rory nearly dismissed the pop he heard, but those same years running with the Doctor had honed his reflexes for recognizing when something was going wrong. He was in mid-pivot when the explosion happened. There was a loud roar, and suddenly he was flying.

_Oh hell. I’m going to die again, aren’t I?_

He vaguely heard the screams below as he slammed into something solid, and his arms wrapped around it. Whatever it was swung precariously above him, and he looked up to see it was part of another glide. He tried to lift himself up, but the glide gave a sickening lurch. Rory swallowed and, ignoring his better judgment, looked down to see a mass of people congregating on the level below. And standing next to each other were his daughter and the Clara girl he’d met.

Rory gritted his teeth and wondered how long he could hang on.

\-----

“Professor Song!”

That was new. River turned around in time to see the dark-haired young woman come running up to her. Human, mid-20s, wearing 21st century clothing, speaking with a British accent, and very pretty. There was a 94.6% chance this was one of the Doctor’s future companions. “Sorry?”

The girl skidded to a halt, cheeks red from exertion and embarrassment. “Oh. Sorry. I thought you looked like my friend’s wife. Never mind. Didn’t think there was anyone else out there with, you know, the space hair.”

Amused, River held out a hand. “Doctor River Song. So, I’ll be a professor in the future? How exciting!”

The girl groaned, and River imagined she was mentally slapping herself in the forehead. She grumbled something under her breath about, “The Doctor needs to _tell_ me these things,” before addressing River once more. “Forget I said that. I’m Clara. I travel with the Doctor.”

It was so gratifying to know she was right about these sorts of things. River took a moment to give Clara a further study. How interesting. She was from the Doctor’s future, a future where Clara knew who River was to the Doctor. Which meant she encountered Clara again in her own future. She knew the Doctor tended to take on temporary companions when not traveling with her parents, but Clara was a new one.  “Lovely to meet you, Clara.” She took her diary out of her handbag. “Before we go any further, I just need to-”

“What’s that?” Clara frowned at the journal in River’s hands.

River froze, just a second. “It’s my diary,” she said cautiously. “You said you travel with the Doctor.”

“Yeah, I’ve been with him for months.”

“Then, you know who I am.”

Clara nodded. “Yeah, you’re his wife.”

Warning sirens went off in River’s mind, and she slowly put the diary away. Clara knew who she was, knew her as a professor, an educational rank that took years to obtain. She didn’t know about the diary. Every fear River ever had about her future sprang to mind. It meant Clara was a companion that came from a future where the diary was no longer needed. Which meant their timelines had finally synced, or …

Before River could think through the possible ramifications, the explosion shook the area. Around them, people dropped to the ground screaming as River grabbed onto Clara, shielding the younger girl. She had to take care of her, for the Doctor’s sake.

When the tremors subsided, River scanned the sky in the direction where the explosion originated. Several of the glides were torn apart, the dead and the injured on the ground a few feet away. Her hearts leaped into her throat when she noticed a figure dangling from one of the damaged glides. “Oh God. Rory!”

Clara stared where River did and gasped. “That’s Amy Pond’s husband! He’s in the TARDIS files,” she hastily explained. “I met him outside the golf ball shop.”

“We’ve got to save him. Where’s the TARDIS?” River whirled around.

“Here!” Clara tossed her map to River. “But, the way is blocked by debris.”

“We’ll have to go the long way.”

“Will he make it?”

“He’s got to.” River sprinted down the corridor with Clara at her heels.

\-----

The Doctor and Amy wandered through book shops, falling back into their easy banter as the Doctor picked up books, flipped through them quickly, then discarded them. Nothing seemed quite right for River, and he didn’t recall her mentioning a specific gift from her past that had to come from a future him. So, he seized onto every stolen moment with Amy as they reminisced about some of their earliest adventures.

“Why don’t you give us a lift home?” Amy suggested.

“Where did you come from, Pond? Can’t just take you home at any old time.”

“Christmas Eve, 2014. You’ve done the one from 2013?” Her brow furrowed. “I need to bring that diary I started keeping.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve done that one.” The Christmas where he came back to the Ponds, where he found out that River had let them in on his secret. He’d known she’d do it, hadn’t been mad at all. It meant he had his Ponds back, and he’d been grateful to her for it. They’d just gotten settled when River had arrived herself, clutching armloads of gifts and wearing a hideous jumper just to make Rory happy.

“Then, you’ve got to come to this one,” Amy declared. “No more skipping Christmas for you.”

“Would I do that, Pond?”

“Depends on how sorry for yourself you’re feeling lately.”

The Doctor grunted, and Amy laughed.  “You don’t come by often enough, you nor River. Come on, be domestic for a day or two. It won’t kill you.”

He wasn’t quite sure how to respond in a way that wouldn’t offend her. The explosion ripping through the corridor saved him from having to say anything at all. He grabbed Amy and hauled her behind a pillar as the ground beneath their feet buckled and swayed. “What’s going on?” Amy yelped.

The Doctor sniffed the air. “Cratian bomb. Very tiny nuclear device, extremely effective. Smells like peaches. Well, I suppose if you’re going to blow up your enemies, you might as well include an air freshener to go along with it. You all right, Pond?”

“Yeah. But, Rory and River. I should touch base with them.” Amy pulled out her mobile as she headed for one of the glides.

“Amy!” The Doctor leaped forward and snagged her arm just as she stepped out onto nothingness. Amy yelped, teetered precariously, then allowed the Doctor to haul her back. Gripping each other, they stared over the jagged ledge where there had once been a glide.

“Five levels of glides,” the Doctor mused. “Terrorist attack. But, there’s nothing in the record books about this, or I’d never brought Clara here.”

Amy startled. “Who’s Clara?”

Uh oh.

“Amy!”

The Doctor and Amy peered over the ledge once more. Amy gasped when she spotted Rory hanging precariously onto one of the ruined slides. “Rory! Oh my God, Rory!” She lunged, grabbed the Doctor’s arms. “What do we do?”

“We’ve got to get back to the TARDIS. I’ll fly her in, materialize around Rory, and scoop him up.” He started to tug Amy with him, but she resisted.

“I can’t just leave him, Doctor!”

No. She wouldn’t leave Rory. She would choose him again and again, and that’s the way it should be. The Doctor hastily calculated the weight of the glide Rory clung to, and watched the younger man’s muscles trembled as he struggled to hang on. Timelines swam in his mind. Rory wasn’t supposed to die now, but he had a strange habit of wandering into death then wandering back out again. He had to time it precisely, had to get back to the TARDIS and right back to this moment. It meant Amy couldn’t stay here. He had to persuade her to go with him.

Before he could say anything, the TARDIS suddenly materialized around Rory. Seconds later, it faded back out of view. Impressed, the Doctor straightened. Well. He was better than he thought.

Amy threw her arms around him. “Oh, thank you, Raggedy Man!”

“Right! Well, now that we’ve seen us rescue him, let’s go get it done!” He spun around with Amy in his arms and nearly stumbled over Clara. “Clara!”

Clara ignored him, grinning at Amy. “So, you’re the infamous Amy Pond. You’ve no idea how glad I am to meet you.”

“Likewise?” Confused, Amy took Clara’s hand and spotted the TARDIS behind her.

“Amy!” Rory ran out of the TARDIS and into his wife’s arms.

“Rory. Oh, Rory!” She buried her head in his shoulder before kissing him fiercely.

“Not bad, eh?” Clara nudged the Doctor’s ribs as they watched the Ponds press their foreheads together, murmuring softly.

“Not bad indeed. Wait, Clara. What’re you doing here? Oh, right, let’s go rescue them.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her back toward the TARDIS.

“Got one problem here. You didn’t rescue them.”

He halted a few feet from the doors. “Sorry?”

Clara arched an eyebrow. “Doctor, you neglected to tell me a few things about your wife. Like she can fly the TARDIS better than you. Oh, and she was a doctor before she was a professor. And she had a diary. I really need to know these things if I’m to run into younger versions of her.”

The Doctor stared at the opened door of the TARDIS, then backed away. “Right. Well, Ponds are back together, I’m just going to … to do things. Christmas-type things. Clara, let me know when River and the Ponds are on their way and …”

“Doctor,” Clara said firmly.

He drew her around the side of the TARDIS. “They’re from my past. My distant past. Seeing Amy again was a gift, but River …”

“She’s your wife,” Clara said softly, gripping his arms. “You cried for her when I talked about her. Vastra and Jenny told me what happened on Trenzalore while I was in your time stream. Don’t you want to see her again? Really, properly see her?”

More than anything. He wanted to see River, to smell her, to touch her more than he wanted his next breath. “It will hurt too much,” he admitted.

“It’ll hurt more if you let her go without saying anything at all.” She smiled. “Merry Christmas, Doctor. Now, go snog your wife.”

\-----

He hesitated on the threshold of the console room and drank in the sight of her. She stood just off to the side, staring at the panels of Gallifreyan writing circling the time rotor. Just this once, her guard was down, and he could see the pain in her eyes. She knew. She always knew, his River. She’d figure it out as soon as she realized that Clara didn’t know about the diary. That Clara had come from a time when the diaries were no longer needed. Because River wasn’t there.

He tried to speak, well-loved phrases of domesticity that marked their lives with each other. But his voice refused to work, and when she finally spotted him, he was afraid to talk because he was quite sure he would sob instead. Before she could say anything, he crossed over to her and framed her face in his hands. He swept his thumbs over her cheeks, felt the warm flesh beneath. He swallowed and instinct propelled him forward, into her arms, into her kiss.

It’d been years upon years in his timeline since they were together, and everything about him that had fallen dormant upon her death flared to life once more. This wasn’t a ghost. This was actually _her_ , and if spending time with Amy had been an unexpected gift, then being with River was like being presented with the sun, the moon, the stars, and the location of Gallifrey all at once.

She helped him with zippers and buttons, pushed aside errant articles of clothing before her fingers threaded through his hair and tugged. The pinpricks of pain heightened the pleasure. He shucked his shirt and waistcoast, shoved down his trousers and pants as she fought her leggings and dress off.

He wasn’t sure when they slid to the ground, but the horizontal surface afforded him the chance to worship each exposed area of her body. Her full breasts with those lovely nipples that begged for his attention. The dip of her waist, the curve of her hip. The triangle of soft curls between her legs that was already damp from excitement. He paid special attention here, his fingers sliding into slick warmth, his thumb circling her clit as her legs splayed wide and she moaned beneath him. He wasn’t sure where to direct his attention, and finally decided just to help himself to whatever he could.

He stroked her into climax using his fingers, watching as her eyes unfocused and she shattered beneath his clever hand. As she came down from the high, he began stimulating her in new ways, kissing his way down her torso, lapping at the tiny belly button, nose buried in the heat of her as his tongue replaced his fingers. He was ruthless, worshipping her as her hips undulated above him. When she came a second time, she tugged at his hair once more. He took his time kissing her way back up her body. Shaking, he finally slid into her. His head dropped to her shoulder as his hips moved, and all the love he held for her and never vocalized threatened to break free. When he came, he sobbed her name in Gallifreyan. He said quite a number of other things as well, but was afraid to examine what he let admitted in the heat of passion.

She stroked his sweaty back as he rested against her, hearts hammering wildly. He couldn’t tell where he ended and she began, and he wanted it to never end.

Unfortunately, time had its way of intervening.

“How long has it been?” River asked softly.

He pushed himself onto his arms. “I can’t tell you that.”

She closed her eyes, and he saw the tears in the corner of her eyes. “Does Clara take care of you?”

“Yes. She’s a good friend.”

“I like her. So does Rory.”

The Doctor pulled away, not quite sure if he could speak around the sudden lump in his throat. Clara had the blessing of his Ponds. It touched him in a way that the endorsements from his past incarnations hadn’t. “What do you think of the desktop?” he finally managed.

She sat up, leaned into his embrace. “I like it.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek into her curls. “Me too.”

\-----

“That makes sense,” Amy said once the Doctor had dropped off River and the Ponds, and River had a chance to explain how far ahead in the future Clara and the Doctor were. “He looked like he’d seen a ghost when he saw me. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I should had pressed him.” She wrapped her hands around her mug of tea. “Seems weird to think of a time when the Doctor won’t travel with us because we’re … well, you know.”

“I’m sure it’s not any time in the near future,” River reassured her.

“Here’s my question,” Rory said as he wrapped the only present he’d managed to save – the golf ball detector for his father. “You said the mall was perfectly safe, and you’re usually spot on about those sorts of things. But, there was that explosion. So, what happened?”

“That’s what I want to know.” River pulled out her tablet and brought up a history of the Intergalatic Mall of Andromeda. “Article was recently updated with new data. It seems that … oh.” She coughed.

“Oh?” Amy leaned over River’s shoulder and plucked the tablet out of her hand. “In December 3127, an anonymous tip led to the apprehension of Ba’Garal, a notorious leader of the intergalactic slave trade. Ba’Garal ordered a hit on the mall minutes after his arrest in retaliation, in the hopes of taking out the tipster. It isn’t known if he succeeded.”

Amy and Rory exchanged a _look_ over River’s head.

River merely smirked and took her tablet back. “So, who’s ready for Christmas?”


End file.
